Subscribe!

Tag: shopping behavior

There’s an emotional customer in all of us. In fact, emotional experience connotes the whole range of our feelings, including anxiety, fear, apathy, euphoria, depression, sadness, anger, and grief 1. I’m sure we’ve all experienced some of these feelings as a result of our emotional state.

Our emotional state is important because it affects our decisions before and while we’re shopping 2. And all retailers need to know it…

The teens and tweens of today are a cohort of kids that doesn’t have a definitive name yet, however some have dubbed it Generation Z. Generation Z, the largest demographic cohort comprises 25% of the US population (Wikipedia, 2015). They will start working by 2020 and earning lots of money that need spending. Therefore Generation Z should be taken seriously by retailers who need to know who they are and what their needs, wants and preferences are.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines. AI, still science fiction for most of us, is now becoming a daunting reality in the retail sector. Although we have learned machines (e.g. robots) for some time now, connecting them with the internet may accelerate digital disruption. Digital disruption occurs because unmet needs in the market and in our societies can be addressed through digital means 1.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what are online videos worth for retailers? Bill Briggs recently reported in the Internet Retailer that shoppers who watch a video are 1.7 times more likely to buy something than those who don’t…

Social media sites have created one of the most exciting and efficient opportunities for retailers to reach their customers. It also offer great opportunities for the owners of social media networking sites to get ‘pay per click’ income when retailers post ads on the sites and visitors click on the ‘buy’ buttons to buy stuff.

The way forward for retail is Bricks and Clicks (doing business in a shop and online). In an article earlier this year Justin Taylor head of EMEA retail trying to console Bricks and Mortar (physical stores) retailers said: “despite the impact of e-commerce, physical stores remain a cornerstone of consumer engagement”.

The question that remains to be answered is: Why is online retail growing worldwide and, at the same time, Bricks and Mortar retailers that are not engaging their customers online are closing down?

Retailers who are for years in business are using technology that is developed for running a physical shop (Bricks and Mortar) better and making shopping for their customers easier. A study by Forrester Consulting found that although 90% of the UK retailers are now doing business online. Sadly, most of them find it difficult to join their online and offline technology. Moreover, only 26% of the retailers interviewed mentioned that their sales are influenced by the online channel.

A blog page is a cost effective platform that retailers can use to interact with their customers. As a result, customers are increasingly making their final decision to buy a product by reading reviews. Also, they interact with other on the blog-page to help them with their purchase decision.

Are South African retailers failing online? A recent study by the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) published by BusinessTech has revealed that South African retailers did little to advance their sub-par online shopping offerings in 2014.